Looking Back: 12/31

Published: Monday, December 31, 2012 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, December 31, 2012 at 12:06 a.m.

50 years ago this week

Deaths this week included Pete W. Cawthon, 62, noted football coach who was an assistant coach at the University of Alabama under Coach Frank Thomas in 1942 and athletic director at the university in 1952 and 1953. Other deaths this week included Lelia Harris, a retired teacher and prominent Alabama educator who began her teaching career at the old Stafford School; the Rev. David W. Simmons, Nazarene minister widely known for his radio ministry and who was instrumental in organizing several Nazarene churches; former teacher and Northport resident John James Sr.; and Greensboro attorney and civic leader Winston Reese Withers.

Coach Paul “Bear” W. Bryant was carried off the field on the shoulders of players after the Crimson Tide’s 17 -0 win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl in Miami before a crowd of 73,380 that included President John F. Kennedy.

Coach Bryant filed a $500,000 suit against a publishing company and Furman Bisher, sports editor of the Atlanta Journal, on grounds that he had been charged with condoning brutality among his players.

The first Tuscaloosa County baby of the new year was Gary Wayne Phillips, son of Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Phillips of Brownville.

25 years ago this week

After occupying a 100-year-old Victorian House at 2902 Sixth Street, Focus on Senior Citizens was preparing to move into a new building at 1924 Sixth Street across from Drake Printers.

When former Alabama coach Ray Perkins strolled onto the Tampa practice field used by Alabama to prepare for the Hall of Fame Bowl against Michigan, he was warmly greeted with applause by the players and asked by Coach Bill Curry to give a talk to the team. Alabama lost to Michigan 28-24 in the game.

Heather Renee Crimm, daughter of Kim and Tammie Crimm of Gordo, was the first baby born in 1988 in Northport and Tuscaloosa.

The Aliceville Lock and Dam was renamed the Tom Bevill Lock and Dam through a congressional amendment. It became the first lock on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to be named in honor of a person.

Alabama Gov. Guy Hunt told a group at the Fayette Civic Center that he would continue to push for a limited access road through West Alabama that would connect the Muscle Shoals area with Mobile.

Contractors objected to the proposed use of prison inmates to construct the proposed juvenile detention facility.

10 years ago this week

The UA Million Dollar Band, one of the nation’s most recognizable university symbols, would receive the prestigious Sudler Trophy, the highest honor a college marching band could get.

Local black leaders were considering a plan by out-of-state investors which would foot the cost of the construction of Central High School near Palmore Park in west Tuscaloosa.

University of Alabama professor Enrique Gomez, who taught in the astronomy and physics department, assured a reporter that the world would not end in 10 years as some people believed based on the ancient Mayan calendar.

The first baby of the year in Alabama was Michiya O’Shea James, daughter of Michael and Demetria James of West Blocton.

UA’s new football coach Mike Price, who chose to coach his seventh-ranked Washington State in its bowl game after accepting the job at UA, was given a rude send-off by Oklahoma which beat his Cougars 34-14 in the Rose Bowl.

Fifteen months after his conviction on federal charges of conspiracy and fraud, Dr. Phillip Bobo lost his license to practice medicine in Alabama.

Deaths this week included Thomas Shumaker, a long time Tuscaloosa businessman, community champion, military veteran and the city’s 1979 Citizen of the year, at 84.

Five years ago this week

Sewer problems were blamed for holding up the opening of the new Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Patrick Darnell Jemison, son of Nia Jemison, was the first baby born in 2008 at DCH Regional Medical Center.

On New Year’s night, a lost lamb turned up at the home of Rod Walker. While he looked for the owner, Walker kept the lamb that he named Lambo in a cage at his business, Downtown Trading Company, on Greensboro Avenue. Lambo found a new home on a Tuscaloosa County farm.

The sanctuary of Holy Spirit Catholic Church was being prepared for demolition to be replaced with a new $14 million facility.

UA President Robert Witt became only the second sitting UA president to serve as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

The Houndstooth, a landmark bar on the Strip, was closed and slated for demolition. A new building would be built in its place on the site.

One year ago this week

Investigator said a Tuscaloosa County man, Steve William Karr, sexually victimized at least 11 young boys over the course of 30 years in a case that Sheriff Ted Sexton compared to that of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Former Alabama State Sen. Phil Poole and his brother, Bank of Moundville president Howell Poole, were charged with misdemeanor harassment after the two had a physical and verbal dispute in the parking lot at the Bank of Moundville.

A $2.4 million addition to the Maude L. Whatley Health Center was under construction; it would expand patient examination rooms and waiting rooms and allow the clinic to see more patients.

City Councilman Kip Tyner pleaded guilty to drug charges and would be enrolled in a yearlong pretrial diversion program, allowing him to keep his council seat. Once he completed the program, charges would be dropped.

Harrison David Swann was the first baby born in Tuscaloosa County for 2012. His parents, Jeff and Traci Swann, had lost their home in the April 27 tornado that hit Tuscaloosa.

The Crimson Tide football team traveled to New Orleans for the BCS National Championship Game against No. 1 LSU in the Superdome.

The Northport City Council and Mayor Bobby Herndon, along with Coker Mayor Marla Shaw, asked the state to conduct a traffic study and make safety changes to the intersection of U.S. Highway 82 and Sam Sutton Road after five people died in five months in wrecks at the intersection.

Deaths this week included David Turner Warner, son of former Gulf States Paper CEO Jack Warner, at 63.

Compiled by retired News librarian Betty Slowe.

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